Possible language learning requirements for university applicants
Thursday, 11th June 2009
According to an article on the BBC on 3rd June, the British Academy is arguing that a GCSE in a foreign language should be a compulsory requirement for a place at university.
The advice came as it unveiled its ‘Language Matters’ report, undertaken in order to assess what impact a decline in modern language skills is having on the UK as a research base. According to the Academy, poor language skills prevent the UK remaining a “world-class hub of research” and damage the economy.
From 2012 University College London will require all undergraduates to have a GCSE or equivalent qualification in a modern language, a requirement that the Academy strongly supports. Students unable to fulfil this requirement will need to take at least a half-course unit in a foreign language as part of their degree.
In reference to its potential wide-spread adoption as a university policy, the Academy says:
“It would encourage those pupils who intend to go to university, but would otherwise have been deterred from language study, to take up language learning.”
“And it sends a powerful message to schools about the importance universities place on language learning.”
The British Academy report notes that in 2001, 22% of pupils in England did not take a GCSE in a language, which by 2008 had risen to a shocking 56%. The government’s decision in 2004 to make languages optional for pupils in England from the age of 14 is thought to have greatly exacerbated the decline.
The report also warned that A-level language entries declined by 28% between 1996 and 2007 and that the loss of A-level candidates had led to a decrease in the number of students taking language degrees. This in turn has resulted in the closure of a third of university language departments in seven years.
The government has set a target that all primary school pupils in England should have the chance to study a foreign language by 2010, which, it is hoped, will encourage children to learn and eventually improve GCSE entries.
More about kids courses in languages in the UK
More about ‘juniors’ language courses abroad
More about the ‘Language Matters’ report
Tags: a level, gcse, juniors, children, language, languages, tailor-made, learning, german, french, spanish
Posted by Laura Harrison 2009-06 under Attitudes to Language Learning,
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